Tell me what Viviana meant. I spoke up first, the darkness of the basement oppressive, the weight of the stone in my pocket making me want to fish it out and toss it aside, to discard the soul within it I now felt stirring inside the rock. Instead, I held perfectly still, though not out of a choice to do so. Leah fought me for control while I pushed back, blocking her with a wall of darkness though doing so kept me immobile and without the ability to do much else.

Stalemate ...